Parents and Students,
Three years ago, PBS created a video series as a part of their "American Experience" series titled, The Abolitionists (see a preview at the bottom of the post - online only). The first time I watched it, I knew immediately this had to have a prominent place in my lessons as we approach the Civil War. It is a three-part drama/documentary, each an hour long, covering the movement led by five people to end slavery in the United States beginning in the 1820s and concludes with the end of the Civil War and the establishment of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. It is the most powerful, accurate, and engaging production I have ever used in the classroom to uncover the realities of why the Civil War was a war to end slavery.
All week, your students have gotten to know William Lloyd Garrison, Angelina Grimke, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Beecher-Stowe, and John Brown. They learned about their experiences with slavery and their unshakable Christian foundation that created for them a conviction that their lives must be dedicated to ridding the nation of the evil sin that slavery had been. Most significantly, we have learned of their efforts that forced America to confront this issue as one that must end if the nation was to be preserved. This was the work of the abolitionists - making sure that the Civil War was a war that ended slavery.
All week, we also confronted the critical assumptions of the 1850s that lead to misunderstandings regarding the causes and course of the Civil War. As slavery is the issue that gets the attention, it is also the nature of the definition of federalism that must be recognized as needing to be resolved if the Civil War is to serve a purpose. Southern states had threatened secession and civil war since 1820 - whether or not slavery was the issue. Their stance was against what they perceived as the encroachment of a tyrannical and over-reaching federal government into States' sovereignty. When it became clear that the nation was to be led by a president whose party policy was unfriendly with the status of slavery, they secede.
In their secession, the southern States form a Confederacy, a nation just like the one that existed before the Constitution - a nation where they retain their sovereignty as States.
Homework/Extension Opportunity
To debrief from this week, I have assigned something that is due Tuesday. I recorded three short videos that provide some necessary connections and supplements the content from this week. They are titled, "The Crisis of the Union," and they have an accompanying reflection/guide handout (attached below). This handout has a few questions from the video lectures to answer.
In addition, there are instructions on the handout for accessing and viewing any part (or whole) of The Abolitionists by students. I encourage anyone to re-watch with family, but the focus is to provide these for anyone who missed a day of class this week. Visit history.lawrencebruce.us for access.
The Crisis of the Union (assignment sheet)
Lastly, I hope everyone has a great weekend. Recharge and re-energize as best as possible. We have just a few busy weeks remaining. Emotions and attitudes give in to the beckoning summer weather which sometimes leads to destructive behaviors in the classroom. Let's keep those at bay for a few weeks and end the year strong!
Yours,
Mr. Bruce
Showing posts with label homework. Show all posts
Showing posts with label homework. Show all posts
Friday, May 13, 2016
Thursday, March 24, 2016
Week 27 in Mr. Bruce's History
Parents and Students,
Week 27 means only one thing: End of the third 9-week marking period with only one more to go! Wow! Hard to believe that there's just a quarter left. But as in sports, the 4th quarter is crucial; games are won and lost in the final minutes. Let's motivate ourselves to stay academically strong and finish well!
As we move into this last marking period, we turn our attention to the period known as "Antebellum." The term is Latin and means "before the war". In American History, this is the period before the Civil War. Pretty much every thing we talk about will hint toward a possible factor that produces the climactic content for this course.
We began this week by looking at "Westward Expansion" and all the questions, challenges, and
debates that arose out of it. Beginning with the Louisiana Purchase, we learned that Jefferson was criticized for this purchase for three reasons: 1) we already had more land than we could settle at that time, 2) impossible to govern given the transportation (before steam power was used for boats and rail engines), and 3) it was unconstitutional, especially in Jefferson's interpretation of the Constitution. Yet, it stood, and began a 50 year pattern of land acquisition by many methods.
From the Louisiana Purchase, we learned about the aggressive methods of taking control of Florida from Spain. The textbook made it seem as though Andrew Jackson was a defiant and insubordinate general who defied President Monroe's direct orders... Yet the whole affair is more complicated and we start to wonder why the documentation of his orders didn't survive. (this link has some highlighted portions for your viewing). So why was it so important for Florida to be added that we use such measures to take it?
We took a diversion from Florida to look at a debate in Congress happening at the same time over the admission of Missouri as a State. Neither in the North nor the South, debate became fierce when it was suggested that Missouri be admitted on the condition that it prohibit slavery (see Missouri Compromise). With threats of secession, it was agreed to allow Missouri as a "Slave State" regardless if there were many (if any at all) slave owning residents. The matter was over a balance of power in the Senate, where states are equal to each other. If there are more "Free States" than "Slave States" then Southerners would be unable to stop any legislation that would inhibit slavery. This makes new territory in the south very necessary for this balance to be maintained. This includes Texas, which is how we ended this week, learning of their "independence movement", which is how it is portrayed in American textbooks. However, it was stolen from Mexico, a nation we sought to protect in principle (see the Monroe Doctrine).
Ask your students this weekend:
Week 27 means only one thing: End of the third 9-week marking period with only one more to go! Wow! Hard to believe that there's just a quarter left. But as in sports, the 4th quarter is crucial; games are won and lost in the final minutes. Let's motivate ourselves to stay academically strong and finish well!
As we move into this last marking period, we turn our attention to the period known as "Antebellum." The term is Latin and means "before the war". In American History, this is the period before the Civil War. Pretty much every thing we talk about will hint toward a possible factor that produces the climactic content for this course.
We began this week by looking at "Westward Expansion" and all the questions, challenges, and
 |
| In 1800, all of "Louisiana Territory" was at least 6 weeks away. |
From the Louisiana Purchase, we learned about the aggressive methods of taking control of Florida from Spain. The textbook made it seem as though Andrew Jackson was a defiant and insubordinate general who defied President Monroe's direct orders... Yet the whole affair is more complicated and we start to wonder why the documentation of his orders didn't survive. (this link has some highlighted portions for your viewing). So why was it so important for Florida to be added that we use such measures to take it?
We took a diversion from Florida to look at a debate in Congress happening at the same time over the admission of Missouri as a State. Neither in the North nor the South, debate became fierce when it was suggested that Missouri be admitted on the condition that it prohibit slavery (see Missouri Compromise). With threats of secession, it was agreed to allow Missouri as a "Slave State" regardless if there were many (if any at all) slave owning residents. The matter was over a balance of power in the Senate, where states are equal to each other. If there are more "Free States" than "Slave States" then Southerners would be unable to stop any legislation that would inhibit slavery. This makes new territory in the south very necessary for this balance to be maintained. This includes Texas, which is how we ended this week, learning of their "independence movement", which is how it is portrayed in American textbooks. However, it was stolen from Mexico, a nation we sought to protect in principle (see the Monroe Doctrine).
Ask your students this weekend:
- What motivations are there for the South to gain territory in Florida and Texas?
- How do Mexican textbooks portray American expansionist tendencies?
- What did Texas become in 1836?
These are fun questions, and essential to our understanding as we go forward in this unit. One last thing before next week: if you can watch "The Odd, Odd Election of 1824" in preview of studying Andrew Jackson as President.
Week 27 means one more thing: Easter Weekend! May your weekend be filled with the grace of the cross and the joy of the Resurrection.
Until next week, I remain, yours,
Mr. Bruce
Friday, October 23, 2015
Week 7 in Mr. Bruce's History
Parents and Students,
We're ready to round out Marking Period 1 next week. Just like that, a quarter of the school year is behind us. The second marking period is loaded with opportunities for us to practice this process of learning history through questions, gathering and evaluating evidence, and interpretation. Under significant guidance, we will apply this foundation to topics like the creation of the Constitution, putting that experimental government into practice, and a very shaky election year in 1800.
Before you read any further. We worked on two essential assignments this week. Both should be completed by all students before returning Monday:
At this point in the year, it is helpful for me to introduce you to the guiding framework for why I lead students this way through History. For me it's been a process that has developed over the last 11 years since graduating from CMU. While CMU provided the right tools to be an effective teacher, it was later that I developed a truly effective practice for teaching history.
It began with a Federal "Teaching American History" grant that the Battle Creek Consortium received that they opened up to all Calhoun ISD schools. While at Union City, that included me - it was AWESOME. I worked with a small group of 8th grade teachers from the Calhoun ISD as well as historians and professors from MSU to build lessons and units. This effort gave us understanding into what history instruction could be. Part of this included an project called "Thinking Like a Historian" created by two historians from Wisconsin. Their framework has been my foundation. Since then, I have gotten further ideas from a book titled Why Won't You Just Tell Us the Answer by Bruce Lesh. His application of very similar methods gave me more strategies to employ. Finally, a project by Sam Wineburg, a renowned professor from Stanford, called "Historical Thinking Matters" has guided me to help students critically analyze primary and secondary sources.
What's more important is that in the last two years, Michigan has taken steps toward making this approach to teaching social studies a more concrete reality. Michigan sent a number of representatives to be a part of a group from several states to develop an instructional approach that can guide teachers in how to teach content standards. Content is what is taught and learned: topics. The C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards defines how social studies should be taught. It fits with how I teach perfectly. The link I included above takes you to a page on my website where I have listed just the C3 Standards. Attached is the PDF document of the Framework in its entirety. The introduction is an excellent read if you are interested.
I mentioned a few weeks ago that I would describe what I do in Extension class for those of you who have or will have students in that class. I encourage you to take a peek at www.codeavengers.com (see video below). This website is one of a few resources for learning how to code. My particular emphasis is learning to create for the web, which includes two languages: HTML and CSS. Students take an introductory course and then the hope is to apply what they learn to create a personal site of their own before the 12 week rotation is up. Nowhere else in their public education are these skills provided except in these exploratory classes. Of all of the visual content they have consumed as a user of the web and web based mobile applications, it is essential that they learn about how to produce and create. Across the nation right now there are hundreds of thousands of jobs in the high-tech sector that go unfilled because there are no applicants available. It starts here. It's also incredibly challenging and helps to define academic character.
Until next week,
Mr. Bruce
Intro to Code Avengers:
We're ready to round out Marking Period 1 next week. Just like that, a quarter of the school year is behind us. The second marking period is loaded with opportunities for us to practice this process of learning history through questions, gathering and evaluating evidence, and interpretation. Under significant guidance, we will apply this foundation to topics like the creation of the Constitution, putting that experimental government into practice, and a very shaky election year in 1800.
Before you read any further. We worked on two essential assignments this week. Both should be completed by all students before returning Monday:
- Chapter 6 Reading Guide: The Declaration of Independence
- Chapter 7 Reading Guide: The American Revolution
At this point in the year, it is helpful for me to introduce you to the guiding framework for why I lead students this way through History. For me it's been a process that has developed over the last 11 years since graduating from CMU. While CMU provided the right tools to be an effective teacher, it was later that I developed a truly effective practice for teaching history.
It began with a Federal "Teaching American History" grant that the Battle Creek Consortium received that they opened up to all Calhoun ISD schools. While at Union City, that included me - it was AWESOME. I worked with a small group of 8th grade teachers from the Calhoun ISD as well as historians and professors from MSU to build lessons and units. This effort gave us understanding into what history instruction could be. Part of this included an project called "Thinking Like a Historian" created by two historians from Wisconsin. Their framework has been my foundation. Since then, I have gotten further ideas from a book titled Why Won't You Just Tell Us the Answer by Bruce Lesh. His application of very similar methods gave me more strategies to employ. Finally, a project by Sam Wineburg, a renowned professor from Stanford, called "Historical Thinking Matters" has guided me to help students critically analyze primary and secondary sources.
What's more important is that in the last two years, Michigan has taken steps toward making this approach to teaching social studies a more concrete reality. Michigan sent a number of representatives to be a part of a group from several states to develop an instructional approach that can guide teachers in how to teach content standards. Content is what is taught and learned: topics. The C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards defines how social studies should be taught. It fits with how I teach perfectly. The link I included above takes you to a page on my website where I have listed just the C3 Standards. Attached is the PDF document of the Framework in its entirety. The introduction is an excellent read if you are interested.
I mentioned a few weeks ago that I would describe what I do in Extension class for those of you who have or will have students in that class. I encourage you to take a peek at www.codeavengers.com (see video below). This website is one of a few resources for learning how to code. My particular emphasis is learning to create for the web, which includes two languages: HTML and CSS. Students take an introductory course and then the hope is to apply what they learn to create a personal site of their own before the 12 week rotation is up. Nowhere else in their public education are these skills provided except in these exploratory classes. Of all of the visual content they have consumed as a user of the web and web based mobile applications, it is essential that they learn about how to produce and create. Across the nation right now there are hundreds of thousands of jobs in the high-tech sector that go unfilled because there are no applicants available. It starts here. It's also incredibly challenging and helps to define academic character.
Until next week,
Mr. Bruce
Intro to Code Avengers:
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